German Banks Try Their Luck
In the U.S. Real-Estate Market

FRANKFURT -- In the 1980s, Japanese banks waded into the U.S. real-estate market, lent aggressively, and got burned. Now German banks are trying their luck. The signs are that they are doing better.

Bavarian lender HypoVereinsbank AG leads a growing pack of German banks that finance big U.S. property deals. Its name is emblazoned on the Trump World Tower under construction near the United Nations in New York; it also financed the purchase and redevelopment of the Chrysler Building and the Rockefeller Center by developer Tishman...